Steering Question

[Black Fox]

Gents

For the race I had my son tune his car so that it drifted 1 inch to the left at 4 ft (for a 42 ft aluminum track). Apparently that wasn’t correct because he has a slight wiggle which became a little worse. Obviously I started to notice a decrease in speed. Then suddenly in the finals it miraciously went away which improved his speed and allowed him to take 1st place.

The FDW axle was a bit loose and I used dental floss to so that the axle would stay firmly in the hole. My guess is that maybe axle was still a little loose and after a few races it moved which made the steering worse then it moved again and made it better. I'd be interested in hearing your ideas of what happend.

Also, I said that I had my son tune his car to drift 1 inch to the left at 4 ft. However this wasn't correct obviously. What is the ideal drift for a standard 5 oz Cub Scout car? And if I were to error on the side of caution would it be better to under steer or over steer on an aluminum track.

Thanks

 

[GravityX]

Most will start with 4" over 4', which is a good starting point. Adjust from there depending on COM.

 

[Kinser Racing]

Also be sure to clean the outside of the wheels of any graphite. It'll get you squirrely and slow you down. /images/boards/smilies/wave.gif

 

[Black Fox]

How about a 3/4~5/8 com. And if I wanted to error on the side of caution, would I go with a longer or shorter drift to the left?

 

[Kinser Racing]

If you want to error on the side of caution stick with 4" in 4'. That's a great starting point. /images/boards/smilies/wave.gif

 

[Papa V Racing]

Also be sure to clean the outside of the wheels of any graphite. It'll get you squirrely and slow you down. /images/boards/smilies/wave.gif

I did not do this for my sons car this last race.. We wiggled like crazy... Was going to set drift to 5" but now rethinking not to go so heavy..

Thank You Kinser for mentioning this ...

Papa V

 

[E.T.Racing]

4" in 4' is a very good place to start. I had my boy set his car up this way for our pack race no wiggle and did not loose a heat. I also want to second what Kinser stated clean wheels and no graphite on treads especially on the rears?

 

[3171scott]

Also be sure to clean the outside of the wheels of any graphite. It'll get you squirrely and slow you down. /images/boards/smilies/wave.gif

I did not do this for my sons car this last race.. We wiggled like crazy... Was going to set drift to 5" but now rethinking not to go so heavy..

Thank You Kinser for mentioning this ...

Papa V

Papa V, get a MR. Clean eraser. Your son can put it in his pocket and when he gets his car from impound have him set the eraser on the table and hold the car with one hand and lightly rest the wheels on the eraser and rotate the wheels with his fingers. This removes the graphite on the wheels.

 

[Black Fox]

4" in 4' is a very good place to start. I had my boy set his car up this way for our pack race no wiggle and did not loose a heat. I also want to second what Kinser stated clean wheels and no graphite on treads especially on the rears?

I made sure the wheels were clean. However I hear that some people say it good to put a little graphite on the inner edge of the FDW in order to help it slide along the rails. How would a clean FDW would perform better than one that was graphited the inner edge?

 

[3171scott]

I'm pretty sure what Kinser is saying is to clean the tread where the wheel makes contact to the track. Graphite in the inner FDW where it contacts the rail is good. Rear wheels with graphite on the tread that contacts the track are effected easier by the air flow of the other cars. You need the tread to have some holding power.

Scott

 

[Kinser Racing]

I'm pretty sure what Kinser is saying is to clean the tread where the wheel makes contact to the track. Graphite in the inner FDW where it contacts the rail is good. Rear wheels with graphite on the tread that contacts the track are effected easier by the air flow of the other cars. You need the tread to have some holding power.

Scott

+1 /images/boards/smilies/thumb.gif